RAVANA, in the Hindu mythology the king of the demons, who carried off Sita, the wife of Rama, to Ceylon, which, with the help of the monkey-god Hanuman, and a host of quadrumana, Rama invaded and conquered, slaying his wife’s ravisher, and bringing her off safe, a story which forms the subject of the Hindu epic, “Ramayana.”

RAVENNA (12), a venerable walled city of Italy; once a seaport, now 5 m. inland from the Adriatic, and 43 m.  E. of Bologna; was capital of the Western Empire for some 350 years; a republic in the Middle Ages, and a papal possession till 1860; especially rich in monuments and buildings of early Christian art; has also picture gallery, museum, library, leaning tower, etc.; manufactures silk, linen, paper, etc.

RAVENNA, EXARCH OF, the viceroy of the Byzantine Empire in Italy while the latter was a dependency of the former, and who resided at Ravenna.

RAVENSCROFT, THOMAS, musical composer, born in London; was a chorister in St. Paul’s Cathedral; composed many part-songs, etc., but is chiefly remembered for his “Book of Psalmes,” which he edited and partly composed; some of the oldest and best known Psalms (e. g.  Bangor, St David’s) are by him (1592-1640).

RAVENSWOOD, a Scottish Jacobite, the hero of Scott’s “Bride of Lammermoor.”

RAVIGNAN, GUSTAVE DELACROIX DE, a noted Jesuit preacher, born at Bayonne; won wide celebrity by his powerful preaching in Notre Dame, Paris; wrote books in defence of his order (1795-1858).

RAWAL PINDI (74), a trading and military town in the Punjab, 160 m.  NW. of Lahore; has an arsenal, fort, etc., and is an important centre for the Afghanistan and Cashmere trades.

RAWLINSON, GEORGE, Orientalist, brother of following, Canon of Canterbury; has written extensively on Eastern and Biblical subjects:  b. 1815.

RAWLINSON, SIR HENRY, Assyriologist, born in Oxfordshire; entered the Indian Army in 1827; held several diplomatic posts, particularly in Persia; gave himself to the study of cuneiform inscriptions, and became an authority in the rendering of them and matters relative (1810-1895).

RAY, JOHN, English naturalist, born in Essex; studied at Cambridge; travelled extensively collecting specimens in the departments of both botany and zoology, and classifying them, and wrote works on both as well as on theology (1628-1705).

RAYLEIGH, LORD, physicist, was senior wrangler at Cambridge; is professor of Natural Philosophy in the Royal Institution; author of “The Theory of Sound”; discovered, along with Professor Ramsay, “argon” in the atmosphere; b. 1842.

RAYMOND, name of a succession of Counts of Toulouse, in France, seven in number, of which the fourth count, from 1088 to 1105, was a leader in the first crusade, and the sixth, who became Count in 1194, was stripped of his estate by Simon de Montfort.

RAYNAL, THE ABBE, French philosopher; wrote “Histoire des Indes” and edited “Philosophic History,” distinguished for its “lubricity, unveracity, loose, loud eleutheromaniac rant,” saw it burnt by the common hangman, and his wish fulfilled as a “martyr” to liberty (1713-1796).